Is It a Buyer's or Seller's Market in Townhouses?
Here’s an email we received from a reader this week: I was hoping you could foment some sort of discussion on the summer brooklyn townhouse market. I can’t really figure out what’s going on. It seems like a lot of stuff is left over from the spring, but then some great stuff just flies off…
Here’s an email we received from a reader this week:
I was hoping you could foment some sort of discussion on the summer brooklyn townhouse market. I can’t really figure out what’s going on. It seems like a lot of stuff is left over from the spring, but then some great stuff just flies off the shelf. I’ve been to dozens of open houses the past few weeks, some are empty, some are thronged. I can’t tell if it’s a buyer’s market or a seller’s market. It seems like a lot of people are waiting for the fall to see what comes on the market. What’s your sense?
Seems to us like there’s not a lot of good inventory and that buyers aren’t desperate enough to go for the crap. Your thoughts?
Photo by Da Nator
But 1:44pm, if you are thinking about the kids, as the piece in the NY Times this weekend pointed out, families are choosing the city over the suburbs because after the commute (for men or women who work office jobs) these parents do not get enough time with their children. The people in the article were talking about how they can now go home for lunch, or go home for dinner with the family then go back to work again. Whereas when they lived in the suburbs they would get home after dinner, sometimes even after bedtime for the children every night. So the kids were basically saying “see you next weekend” to their father on Sunday night when they went to bed. I personally would only move to the suburbs if we can make regular good income as freelancers without having to go into an office every day. Otherwise, no. Quality of life would not be better all around.
Hey anon wife of out of work husband with nanny who joked about foreclosure (wouldn’t it be easier if we all used names, whether our real ones or not?), I do the same thing. Joke about foreclosure, I mean. Some people just aren’t smart enough to get self-deprecating sarcasm.
To answer the original question, the brownstone market is a seller’s market and will continue to be, barring any major shocks. Relative to Manhattan brownstones and townhomes, prime Brooklyn (BH, CH, CG and PS) are very good values. The condo market, on the other hand, is becoming a buyer’s market and my belief is that lower quality inventory (building and location-wise) will start sinking in value by the fall, especially as new buildings come on line and developers no longer manage supply.
I’m with the person looking at north westchester. That westchester RE site that was listed last week was very interesting and the area looks great. Say what you will, but while I love the city I am not willing to spend that much on a house and sending the kids to private school just for the honorof living here.
Re 11:47’s comment—-I bought my first place in 1988, in the Financial District, when NOBODY lived there. It had been reduced after the 87 crash, and we loved being pioneers. But by 90 it was worth way less than we paid for it ($169K for 900 SF and 20-foot ceilings!), and by 95, when I took a job in another city, it was virtually unsellable. But the rental market was OK, so I just rented it out, and by the time we returned in 99 it was appreciating (sold it in 2000 and bought in Brooklyn Heights)…..
In 92-93 I would have bought a larger place (taken a loss on my FiDi place if I could get a bargain on something else) , but I was disappointed to find that Tribeca and Soho really didn’t go down that much, especially the bigger places–5%, MAYBE 10%, while fringe areas like mine went down 40-50%. Who knows what will happen this time around, but the most recent experience of price decline in NYC was very unevenly distributed, and that 35% average decline masks a lot of variation by nabe and type of unit.
1:13 yes I would love to pay more taxes so you can stay at home in your three million dollar house, what a great idea, why didn’t I think of that. Would you like me to buy you a car also and a second home.
The last bust cycle saw real estate prices in NYC slide by a great deal more than 5%.
I really do think that it is foreign investors boosting the Manhattan market and driving affluent buyers to Brooklyn.
Once Manhattan prices start to slip, Brooklyn will drop like a stone. I know we are all very big Brooklyn boosters, but that island across the bay sets the tone for the region.
ok. i just wanted to get it straight, 1:28.
your husband sits at home not working.
and you pay a nanny.
and you are about to foreclose on your 1.1 million house.
just wanted to get the facts right.
thank you.
and btw, next time you don’t want a sour reaction, you might think twice about trivializing foreclosure by lying about it.
and i wonder why my non-american friends think the u.s. is in so much trouble…
1:28 – what is your point? We all know bankers make a lot of money – some people have ambitions beyond the paycheck. And some people actually get that jr vp paycheck for doing something creative that they absolutely love, rather than toiling away 80 hours a week with a bunch of preppy dorks.